Morning all, Whilst up early and in pursuit of avoiding the usual bedlam at our local Supermarket, I take advantage of the 24 hour shopping ability (05:00). Unfortunately, the Supermarket is the hub of activity (filling shelves etc) at this time and consequently, the wrappings, boxes and cuttings are strewn everywhere (all over the aisle floors), every time I go there. Now, this is a major retailer. I'm surprised at the seemingly ignorant appreciation of risk or commitment to H&S - at this store or is this countrywide? Maybe an email to the head office might be appropriate (in the first instance), or an email to the HSE? What do you think?

As suggested just express your concerns to the local management - retail establishments are not enforced by the HSE (actual stores) it's the Local Authority.

DP - good point! In terms of risk, there is a significant risk of slips, trips and falls - both staff and public! I will speak to the Duty Manager next time! Thinking about it, I might do my Xmas shop tomw 05:00, free shopping sounds good to me! On a serious note, If any of you saw the problem I think you'd be astonished?! Thanks all.

Nobody wants to fall, or create a situation where somebody else might fall. But before rushing to condemn, where is the evidence for this perceived problem? Of course, it *might* happen, but has it happened? The numerator - How many falls have happened? The denominator - How many shoppers and others have been exposed to this perceived hazard? Though some falls might have occurred in this way, I suspect that the incidence is very small indeed and with a bit of common sense and courtesy from both parties the incidence will reduce still further.

Morning SP - I too would probably speak to store manager in the first instance and if no resolve contact LA. We have 2 24hr supemarkets in the town and they both use roll cages and so you very seldom see packaging on floor. I would agree with Puddock this is a serious trip hazard and the comment re empty shelves/prices is irrelavent if somebody does have a serious injury or an elderly shopper ends up on the ground. Waiting for it to happen not a clever option! Reminds me of a slips and trips DVD we once used in training where somebody caught foot on plastic strapping sticking out from a pallet and colleague pipes up 'Oh I just did that'.

Simon, I had a similar experience over here in Ireland. They were firing stock across the floor and blocking fire exits. When I pointed out my concerns to the store manager , he wasn't that bothered until I contacted the CEO of the organisation concerned via email. I metioned that I was a member of IOSH and that I wasn't impressed and the fact that fire exits were blocked as well. I was contacted quickly, they confirmed that they had checked their CCTV system and could not believe what they saw. I was also informed that the staff informed head office staff that was the way they had been trained. There has a major improvement. The store concerned is a major UK store and give credit where credit is due, I have been contacted subsequently to make sure that I was aware of the changes put in place.

Simon Ciaran identifies what can be achieved if such issues are brought to the attention of senior executives, when local managers show little interest. On a wider front the evidence for the problem is indicated in the HSE statistics which reveal that out of 80 occupational groups, sales assistants and retail cashiers had the forth highest number of major injuries [591] related to slips and trips in 2008/09. When all non-fatal injuries were considered, such workers accounted for the 5th highest group. These were based on provisional figures from the HSE website at: www.hse.gov.uk/statistic...usinj/slipstrips-soc.xls Of course these are not rates and do not give a breakdown into supermarket employees. Nevertheless the figures do indicate that slip and tripping accidents are common. The risk does need to be considered seriously. Most of the supermarkets I have been in during the early morning do have pallets of goods on the shop floor but are usually fine at keeping packaging in trolleys. They tend not to have many people in. However during last year’s Christmas rush, I’m told you could not get in the car park at our local 24 hour supermarket at 2.00am as - ironically - people tried to ‘miss the crowds’! The statistics are for workers so injuries to the public are not here and I have not got time to look any further. However when I put ‘supermarket’, ‘slip’ and ‘accident’ into Google, about 3,270,000 results were identified in a quite impressive 0.21 seconds. 19 out of the first 20 sites I called up were for personal injury solicitors. I left it at that, seeing that there appears to be enough injuries for one company to claim: ‘We help thousands of people throughout the UK make personal Injury Claims because of a slip or a fall in top Supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, Morrisons & Sainsbury's every year.’ Source: www.pintopotts.co.uk/sup...rket-accident-claims.php Indeed I quickly found a company that specialised only in taking claims against supermarkets! I have not seen the latest definition of ‘common sense’ but I have a preference for efficient management organisation, coupled with effective worker involvement – underpinned with competent health and safety advice, of course - when seeking solutions to operational problems. Cheers. Nigel

NigelB - interesting. However, assumptions are made here. 1 - HSE statistic are accurate with regards to reporting injuries any Safety Professional knows they are way off the mark Additionally retail far outweighs another employment sector - think about actually how many people work in retail in the UK - the stats are bound to be the highest aren't they? 2 - they assume all claims are genuine and the integrity of these 'no win' Solicitors is of a high standard. I'll leave that one with you folks!! I can confirm that ST&F's are a massive issue in any retail environments and a very high % of incidents are attributed to them. Think about it again though where do a vast majority of people spend there time - in a retail environment. This does not excuse this particular retailer from leaving these aisles in a mess and they will have processes in place, it will be a local management issue in most cases. My initial response stands - have a word and get them to log on here?

To answer the question that I have been asked by PM, it was TESCO and their CEO Sir Terry Leahy, who left me know, that Health and Safety was paramount to him in an email. He appeared genuinely upset that there had been this slippage and the proof is that there has been a seismic improvement in the way things are done over here.

Thanks Ciaran... every little helps!!! :) Will let all know how I get on tomw morning! Simon

Jane, I have left a message with the CEO concerned to contact me to get his permission to let his name be mentioned in a complimentary manner and have made him aware of the context.